Open-top display refrigerator



March 8, 1949. H. w. HARDIN OPEN-TOP DISPLAY REFRIGERATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 13, 1947 HufierZWHardin,

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4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H. W. HARDIN OPEN-TOP DISPLAY REFRIGERATOR March 8, 1949.

Filed Jfine .13, 1947 Patented Mar. 8, 1949 OPEN -TOP DISPLAY REFRIGERATOR Hubert W. Hardin, San Antonio, Tex., assignor to Ed Friedrich, Inc., San Antonio, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application June 13, 1947, Serial No. 754,507

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-895) My invention, which relates generally to the art of refrigeration, particularly has reference to that type of refrigerator in which the goods are displayed in such position that the customer may reach in through the top, which is always open, and serve himself or herself.

The present invention has for its objects:

1. To provide certain improvements in the refrigerator disclosed in my application for patent filed March 17, 1947, Serial No. 735,083, by which improved circulation of cooling air is provided and provision is also made to provide a storage compartment below the food shelf. To this end the depth of the cabinet from front to back has been substantially increased, the depth of the exposed-food compartment from top to bottom has been reduced, the height of the space below the food shelf has been increased, the semi-ceiling has been eliminated and the refrigerating apparatus has been moved back to the back wall of the storage compartment. Further the up-air duct at the back of the exposed-food compartment has been provided with an open top and a forwardly-upwardly inclined baffle provided at the top opening for deflecting the air passing out of the top opening in a direction over the food toward the front air duct, thus preventing the cold air currents being spilled over the front window.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends invention also resides in the novel details of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts all of which will first be described in detaiLand then be specifically pointed out in the appended claims reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross section of a case embodying my present invention, the section being taken on the line |--l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the false bottom being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 showing the left-hand portion of the case (when viewing it from the front) and Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the right hand portion of the case. p I

In the drawings in which like numerals and letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, l represents the base of the case, 2 the back, 3 the top canopy structure, 4 the front of the case, the upper part of which is composed of a window 5, and 5 designates the sides of the case. The bottom, back, front and sides are composed of insulated walls and the interior is metal lined as at It. The front wall has door openings 1 in its lower portion which are normally closed by doors 8. 1

The front wall of the cooling chamber C is composed of an upright portion l2 and an upwardly rearwardly inclined portion i3. From the upper end of the cooling chamber an uptakeair duct 34 extends to a point somewhat higher than the height of the front wall of the case. The front wall I4 of the duct 3 is foraminous and is preferably composed of expanded metal.

Above the top edge of the wall I4 is a forwardly wall [4 forwardly and downwardly over the food in food chamber F toward the return air duct 35 at the front of the case adjacent the bottom of the window 5.

The foraminous food shelves ll are supported on a floor 31 that is held on brackets l5 and IS. The shelves I! can be held inclined, if desired, by the use of the usual shelf brackets 33. The floor 31 may be in one piece or it may be made in section as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The front air duct 35 is covered by a foraminous guard l8.

A motor compartment I9 is located against the wall I2 at one side or end of the case (Fig. 2) and contains a motor 22 which drives the impeller 2| of the blower. The blower has a casin 20 which delivers air into the cold air duct 28 located below a longitudinal finned foraminous partition 29. The partition 29 is spaced from the bottom of the cooling chamber a greater distance at the blower end than at the end remote from the blower to get an even flow of air through the partition to the cooling coil 23 from end to end. Located in the cooling compartment above the cooling coil 23 is a heat exchanger 24 through which parts of the refrigerant ducts 25 and 26 pass in heat-exchange relation one to the other. An expansion valve 21 is provided for the usual purpose (Fig. 4).

A mirror 30 is provided and extends downwardly rearwardly from the front of the canopy 3 to the upper end of the baffle or deflector II'. The mirror and deflector are supported by a suitable ledge 32.

The usual illuminating lamp 3| is provided in a reflector 36 at the front of the top of the mirror.

F indicates the food chamber and S the storage chamber.

It will be seen that the food chamber F is deep-' 3 therefore, be termed a relatively shallow food chamber. I

The storage chamber 8 is deeper (top to bottom) than the mean depth of the food chamber F, and affords a maximum space for reserve food products.

Air is drawn in via the motor compartment l9 and blown into duct 28, passing up through the cooling coils into duct 34, and from thence through wall I4 and the passage between the top edge of the wall and the deflector l I into the food compartment or chamber F. The air currents from wall I and deflector ll converge to the return duct 35 and pass through the same into the storage chamber S and return to motor compartment IS.

The negative pressure at l8 and the deflection of the air currents at ii prevent air spilling over the window and thus there is constantly maintained a volume of cool air about and over the food when placed in chamber F.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is thought the construction, operation and advantages of my invention will be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In an. open top refrigerated display case wherein is provided a food chamber, a storage chamber below the food chamber, separated therefrom by a suitable partition, and wherein is provided a return air passage at the front of the case from food chamber to storage chamber and wherein there is provided a cold air uptake duct at the rear of the case; the improvement which includes a cooling chamber at the back of the storage chamber, which cooling chamber communicates directly with the cold air uptake duct, said cold air uptake duct having-a foraminous wall communicating with the food chamber, said uptake duct being open at the top, and a forwardly-upwardly extended arcuate deflector over said open top for deflecting air passing through said open top forwardlytoward said return air passage, said cooling chamber being divided into an upper portion and a lower portion by a finned foraminous partition, a cooling coil in said upper portion, means for forcing air taken from said storage chamber into said lower portion, and means for effecting circulation of air from said upper portion, through said uptake duct, through the food chamber back to the storage chamber and return to said lower portion.

2. In an open top refrigerated display case wherein is provided a food chamber, a storage chamber below the food chamber, separated therefrom by a suitable partition, and wherein is provided a return air passage at the front of the case from food chamber to storage chamber and wherein there is provided a cold air uptake duct at the rear of the case; the improvement which includes a cooling chamber at the back of the storage chamber, which cooling chamber communicates directly with the cold air uptake duct, said cold air uptake duct having a foraminous wall communicating with the food chamber, said uptake duct being open at the top, and a forwardly-upwardly extended arcuate deflector over said open top for deflecting air passage through said open top forwardly toward said return air passage, said cooling chamber being divided into an upper portion and a lower portion by a finned foraminous partition, a cooling coil in said upper portion, means for forcing air taken from said storage chamber into said lower portion, and means for effecting circulation of air from said upper portion, through said uptake duct, through the food chamber back to the storage chamber and return to said lower portion.

3. An open top refrigerated display case having a front wall, higher insulated back and side walls. a canopy above said back wall, a ledge projecting forwardly from a place adjacent the top of the back wall, a horizontal floor dividing the case into an upper food chamber and a lower chamber, a vertical partition in said lower chamber dividing the same into a storage space and a cooling chamber, a cooling coil in said cooling chamber, a horizontal finned foraminous partition in said cooling chamber beneath said cooling coil, a cold air duct leading from said cooling chamber above said cooling coil to a place adjacent said ledge and including a foraminous front wall at the back of said food compartment for delivering cold air directly into the food compartment, the top end of said duct being open, an upwardly-forwardly directed bailie over the upper end of said cold air duct which bafile is located under said ledge and terminates at the front edge of the same, an impeller for passing air from the storage compartment into the cooling chamber beneath the horizontal foraminous partition, a down air duct at the front of said floor adjacent the front wall of the case, and a motor compartment in said storage chamber, a motor in said motor compartment operatively connected with said impeller.

HUBERT W. HARDIN.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,066,312 Bales Jan. 5, 1937 2,243,958 Hermann June 3, 1941 2,298,526 Caulk Oct. 13, 1942 2,332,174 Shreve Oct. 19, 1943 2,421,314 Brinkoeter May 27, 1947 

